News-Antique.com - Mar 06,2013 - (PEOTONE, Ill.) – A Beacon Security Gasoline single-sided porcelain die-cut sign with lighthouse graphics, rated 9.5 out of 10 for condition and measuring 48 inches by 30 inches, sold for $55,000 at an auction held Feb. 28-Mar. 1 by Matthews Auctions, LLC, based in Nokomis, Ill. The auction was held prior to the Chicagoland Petroliana & Advertising Show in Peotone, Ill.

The Beacon Gasoline (“a Caminol Product”) sign boasted great gloss and color, with just a few tiny flea bites around the perimeter. “I had never sold a Beacon sign at auction, that’s how rare this piece was, so it didn’t surprise me when it brought that much,” said Dan Matthews of Matthews Auctions, adding, “Arms were shooting up everywhere. It was a real bidding war.”

As it happened, the sign’s rarity and fabulous condition pretty much set the tone for many other lots in the sale. “It was the best and highest-grossing sale in the history of the company,” Matthews said, “and I attribute that to the quality and rarity of the items. That, and a healthy mix of aggressive, determined bidders who came in person or participated online and via the phones.”

Over the course of the two days, around 650 lots came up for bid – mostly petroliana and advertising signs. About 200 people attended the auction live, while another 450 registered to bid online via Proxibid.com. Many phone and absentee bids were also tallied. Matthews said while most of the bidders were American, bids also came in from Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 10 percent buyer’s premium.

A scarce Harbor Petroleum Products single-sided porcelain die-cut sign with seaplane graphics, rated 8.5 and measuring 39 inches by 35 inches, with fine gloss and color but with a chip in the center of the field, garnered $40,700; and a 1933 Cadillac and LaSalle (V8/V12/V16) double-sided porcelain sign, rated 9+ and 8.9, very rare, 24 inches by 30 inches, made $36,300.

A hard-to-find Peerless Stages Bus Depot double-sided porcelain die-cut sign, showing a graphic of a late 1930s General Motors bus, rated 8.5 and 8, 36 inches by 30 inches, advertising a company that only operated in the San Francisco Bay area, rose to $17,050; and a Graham Paige Service tin flange sign with good color and shine, rated 8.25 and 6, exhibiting wear, hit $15,950.

Another lot that also garnered $9,350 was a Ferrari single-sided porcelain self-framed sign, rated 9.5 and 34 inches by 18 inches, with a great back-story. According to legend, Enzo Ferrari gave the sign to Matt Kallens in 1959 when Kallens’s father purchased a